EasyWean noserings make life easier for hobby farmers

Many hobby farmers have a couple of cattle on their few acres as they feel connected to the land in addition to helping with the mowing. Children also are more involved when they care for the calves.

But the farmer faces difficulties when the time comes to wean the calves off their mothers. The resultant bawling of the calves from the separation stresses the neighbours and upsets the kids. Additionally, the farmers have to deal with broken fences as the calves and cows try to get back to each other, increasing their workload.

The EasyWean nosering allows the calf to be weaned next to its mother and takes the stress out of the whole process.

According to EasyWean director Gillian Stephens, major stress factors in conventional calf weaning solutions include the loss of milk intake for the calf and the separation effect on the cow and calf.

The separation factor is eliminated by using EasyWean. Since milk loss only has about a 10% effect on weaning weight at seven months of age, the use of EasyWean has a significant impact on reducing stress at weaning.

EasyWean nose rings work by drying up lactation, helping to maintain the cow and calf bond. The nosering makes it difficult for the calf to access the teat, and the cow rejects the calf’s attempts to suckle. The psychology behind the design is to encourage the cow to wean her own calf. The cow moves away from the calf because of the discomfort when the calf tries to suckle. There is no grazing restriction for the calf.